Wringer with instinctive release of roll pressure and drive



Sept. 16, 1969 P. M. HORROBIN WRINGER WITH INSTINCTIVE RELEASE OF ROLL PRESSURE AND DRIVE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 21, 1967 ATTORNEY Se t. 16, 1969 P. M. HORROBIN WRINGER WITH INSTINCTIVE RELEASE OF ROLL PRESSURE AND DRIVE Filed April 21, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 P 1% w BY M ATTORNEY P 6, 1969 P. M. HORROBIN 3,466,903

WRINGER WITH INSTINCTIVE RELEASE OF ROLL PRESSURE AND DRIVE Filed April 21, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet'S ATTORNEY United States Patent US. Cl. 68-253 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An instinctive wringer having a frame pivoted to the wringer head, a pressure release bar carried by a pivoted arm, and interengaging parts on the wringer head and on the arm for actuating the pressure release upon pivotal movement of the frame relative to the head.

This invention is intended to convert a conventional wringer with a manual pressure release to instinctive release. The conversion also includes a roll stop which may be timed to precede the release of roll pressure.

In the drawing, FIG. 1 is a side elevation partly broken away of a wringer, FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the wringer with some parts removed, FIG. 3 is an end view of the operative connection between the release bar and the toggle release, FIG. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of FIG. 1 showing the structure for actuating instinctively the manual pressure release, FIG. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of FIG. 2, FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view showing the wringer control shaft in the driving position, and FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view showing the interlock blocking the pressure release in the neutral position of the wringer drive.

The wringer has a bottom frame 1 with side stiles 2, 3 at opposite ends in which are journaled upper andlower rolls"'4, 5. Across the top of the side stiles extends a top frame 7 carrying the usual roll pressure applying mecha nism (not shown). One end of the top bar has a releasable connection to the upper end of side stile 2, diagrammatically shown as a pin 8 on the side stile extending through a hole 9 in the top bar. The other end of the top bar is pivotally connected by pin 10 to the upper end of a toggle link 11. The other link 12 of the toggle is pivoted at 13 to the side stile 3 and at 14 to the toggle link 11. The toggle links are held in pressure applying position by a latch 15 pivoted at 16 on the side stile 3 and having a pin 17 biased by spring 18 into engagement with a latch member 19 fixed on the toggle link 11. In the pressure applying position, the pivots 10, 13 and 14 are slightly short of dead center so that the roll pressure would tend to release the toggle if the latch pin 17 were moved out of engagement with the latch member 19. To release the roll pressure, release bars 20 extend across the front of the wringer. The release bars are fixed to the upper ends of supporting plates or arms 21 and 22 respectively pivoted at 23 and 24 on the side stiles 2 and 3 and supporting the release bars 20 for movement fore and aft of the wringer. The arm 22 has a cam shaped section 25 with earn surfaces 26 and 27 on opposite sides of the pivot 24 cooperating with a flange 28 at the upper end of a slide 29 on the side stile 3. The lower end 30 of the slide engages the latch member 15 and rocks it in a clockwise direction whenever the slide 29 is depressed. This releases the latch member 19 and permits moving of the toggle links 11, 12, to the pressure release position. The latch member 19 has a cam surface 31 which cams the toggle links toward the released position in case, due to manufacturing tolerances, the pivots 10, 13, 14 are so aligned that the toggle tends to remain in the pressure position. To release the roll pressure, release bars 20 may be either pushed or pulled so that under panic conditions the user does not have to think how the release bars should be operated.

The wringer is driven by drive gearing in a wringer head 32 having an integral depending sleeve 33 journaled on the upper end of a wringer post 34. The wringer is locked in the desired position by an index lock 35 c0- operating with an index collar 36 fixed to the wringer post. Release of the index lock is obtained by manipulation of a handle 37. The wringer drive shaft (not shown) extends up through the wringer post and drives a gear 38 which continuously meshes with gears 39, 40 loose on a horizontal drive shaft coupled in a suitable manner (not shown) with the lower roll 5. A clutch 41 between the gears 39, 40 is controlled by the handle 42 fixed to the upper end of a control shaft 43 having an eccentric pin 44 riding in a groove 45 in the clutch. In FIG. 1, the clutch is shown in the neutral position in which both gears 39 and 40 are loose on the drive shaft. By turning the handle 42, the clutch may be shifted either to the right or to the left to drive the lower roll either through the gear 40 or through the gear 39, thereby driving the roll in reverse directions. The parts so far described represent a wringer and wringer head combination which has been used for many years.

In order to add to the wringer the additional safety of an instinctive release, the following changes are made. First, instead of rigidly fixing the side stile 2 to the wringer head, the side stile 2 is fixed to a bracket 46 having upper and lower ends 47 and 48 pivoted on heads 49, 50 of screws fixed in ears 51, 52 of the wringer head. This pivot connection permits the wringer to swing bodily in either direction about the axis of the pivots 49, 50 in response to the instinctive reaction of the user in attempting to escape from the bite of the rolls. Second, a pin 53 is fixed to the arm 21 to project between ears 54 and 55 and the lug 51 on the wringer head. The projections 54, 55 are arranged in spaced relation to and on opposite sides of the pin 53 and do not interfere with the normal manual operation of the pressure release by pushing or pulling on the release bars 20. Upon instinctive reaction of the user, the wringer pivots about the pins 49, 50, bringing one of the lugs 54, 55 into engagement with the pin 53 and causing the same pivotal action of the pressure release as that caused by pushing or pulling on the release bars 20. This simple change increases the safety of the wringer by adding an instinctive pressure release. The additional cost of making such a change is slight, involving only a few additional parts added to the already existing head and release mechanism, namely, the pivotal mounting of the wringer on the head and the pin 53 and lugs 54, 55.

Since the instinctive pressure release operates by either a push or a pull on the wringer, unwanted pressure release could be obtained while the wringer was being moved from one index position to another. This is prevented by a plate 56 slidably mounted on the top of the wringer head by means of the pin 57 and boss 58 on the head and a slot 59 in the plate. A compression spring 60 (FIG. 5) arranged in a pocket 61 in the wringer head engages an ear 62 and biases the plate to the left so that it may enter between depending flanges 63 on the bracket 46 as shown in FIG. 7 and thereby block out the pivotal movement of the wringer relative to the wringer head. Under such conditions, the wringer and head are positively locked so that instinctive release of the roll pressure is not possible. The plate 56 assumes the position shown in FIG. 7 whenever the gears are in neutral. Whenever the gears are in driving position, a latch plate 64 fixed to the control shaft 43 cooperates with a flange 65 on the plate 56 to move the plate 56 to the right and retract the plate from between the flanges 63 as shown in FIG. 6. Under this condition, pivotal movement of the wringer relative to the wringer head is permitted and the instinctive safety release feature is operative.

In addition to releasing the roll pressure, it is also desirable that the drive to the rolls be interrupted, preferably before the roll pressure is released. This is accomplished by bell crank levers 66, 67 pivoted on bosses 68, 69 on the wringer head and having ends 70, 71 bearing on opposite sides of the flanges 63. Whenever the wringer is pivoted relative to the head, one or the other of the bell cranks 66, 67 is pivoted about its boss. In order to compel both bell crank levers to pivot together, but in opposite directions, the lever 67 has a slot 72 receiving the rounded end 73 of the lever 66. Accordingly, whenever one of the levers 66, 67 is moved away from its central position, the other lever is compelled to make the same movement. The bell crank levers are biased against the sides of the flanges 63 by a tension spring 74 connected between the bell crank lever 66 and a latch plate 75, pivoted on the boss 69. The latch plate 75 has a depending flange 76 which engages edge 77 of the bell crank lever 67. By this construction, the latch plate 75 is free to pivot in a clockwise direction relative to the bell crank lever 67 but the engagement of the flange 76 with the edge 77 compels the latch plate and bell crank lever to pivot together in a counterclockwise direction. The latch plate 75 has a to actuate the pressure release and also moves the rams 70, 71 of bell cranks 66, 67 apart to release the roll drive. Since the release of the roll drive removes the panic condition, it is advantageous to release the roll drive in advance of the pressure release. This sequence avoids the necessity for resetting the pressure under conditions when stopping the rolls is all that is desired.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a clothes wringer of the type having a head containing drive mechanism, a roll carrying frame having a side stile adjacent the head and having means for pivoting the frame on the head for movement relative to the head about a vertical axis, release bars fixed to an arm adjacent said side stile, means for pivoting the arm on said frame for movement fore and aft of the wringer, mechanism associated with said arm for releasing the pressure upon said pivotal movement of the arm, and interengaging parts on the wringer head and on the arm both spaced from the pivot axes of the frame and arm for pivoting the arm to actuate the pressure release upon pivotal movement of the frame relative to the head.

2. The wringer of claim 1 in which the interengaging parts comprise projections on the wringer head and on pin 78 which cooperates with the latch release member 64 1 (FIGS. 2, 6) and also cooperates with a latch member 79 pivoted on the boss 58. The latch release member 64 has a pin and a slot connection 80 with the latch member 79 so the latch release member 64 may have a limited movement relative to the latch member 79 before taking up the lost motion in the pin and slot connection 80. This permits the latch release member 64 to cam the pin 78 out of engagement with latch surfaces 81 or 82 on the latch member 79 prior to movement of the latch member 79. As soon as the pin 78 is disengaged from either latch surface 81 or 82, a coil spring 83 surrounding the boss 58 and having free ends 84, 85 biased against pin 57 on the wringer head exerts a force on lug 87 on latch member 79, tending to return the latch member 79 to the neutral position. Upon disengagement of the pin 78 from the latch surface 81 or 82, this spring force acts through the pin and slot connection 80 and latch release member 64 to rotate the control shaft 43 of the drive gearing toward the neutral position.

The pivotal movement of the wringer about 49, 50 moves the lugs 54, 55 into engagement with the pin 53 the arm.

3. The wringer of claim 1 in which the means for pivoting the wringer frame on the head comprises a member fixed to said side stile and a pivot bearing between said member and the head, said member having a section extending beyond the pivot bearing and over the top of the head, a horizontal locking slide on the top of the head and movable into engagement with said section at a point spaced from the said pivot bearing, a control for the wringer drive, and interlock means between the control and the slide for moving the slide into engagement with said member in the neutral position of the control and for moving the slide out of engagement with said member in the drive position of the control.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1952 Maplesden 68--253 1/1967 Cuthbert et a1. 68-256 U.S. Cl. X.R. 

